Large-animal vets in short supply

Wednesday

Sep 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMSep 26, 2007 at 4:27 PM

Large-animal veterinarians are becoming a scarce commodity in Michigan. The reason: More than half of Michigan's food animal veterinarians are nearing retirement age, and young vets are shying away from large-animal practice.

Frank Konkel

Large-animal veterinarians are becoming a scarce commodity in Michigan.

The reason: More than half of Michigan's food animal veterinarians are nearing retirement age, and young vets are shying away from large-animal practice.

“We haven't felt the effects as much as some places,” said Countyline Veterinary Service co-owner Tony Ellis. “We had a fortunate situation and had strong interest to fill what we were looking for, but many places we know of haven't been so lucky.”

Pewamo's Countyline has a recent vet school grad working for them, but Shawn Melvin's interest with Countyline dates back to when he was a teenager.

While a vet shortage might not seem like a large problem, a reduction in food animal vets could have serious ramifications, and not just for the farmers who need them.

According to the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association, fewer vets could have a negative impact on the state's food safety and efforts to fight diseases such as norovirus and mad cow disease.

While Countyline's Ellis said they have been lucky with their most recent hire, Sterner Veterinary Clinic in Ionia was not as lucky.

“The last time we were looking to hire someone, we had to look for a long time before we found one,” co-owner Tim Millsap said. “There is definitely a shortage.”

At least Ionia has large-animal veterinarians. Twenty-five Michigan counties don't have a food animal veterinarian within their limits.

In addition, a 2006 report by the Food Supply Veterinary Coalition predicts a 16 percent increase in the demand for public health veterinarians.

They also report a 20 percent increase in demand for food safety veterinarians nationally within a decade. Stated simply: It could get worse.

“Veterinarians play a crucial role in the safety of the food supply,” Karlene Belyea, MVMA executive director. “A breakdown in the health of farm animals can expose millions of Americans to disease, and a loss of confidence in the food supply would be a national economic disaster.”

Melvin, a 2006 Michigan State University graduate and the newest veterinarian at Countyline, said the shortage starts in schooling. Hopeful veterinarian students, he said, lean toward honing their skills in small animal education because more opportunities are present for them.

Opportunities for large animal hopefuls are changing, including a change in the veterinarian selection process itself. Instead of being based specifically on grades, some universities are choosing to include parameters like background and work experience in qualifications.

Still, Melvin said, sometimes large-animal practices aren't as “glamorous” as small-animal practices can be - everybody wants to work with animals that are cute, cuddly and can't run them over.

Unless the perception of large-animal practices change, it might be awhile before there's an excess of large-animal veterinarians.

Jerry Kehr, a fellow vet at Countyline, agreed.

“There are going to be fewer large-animal vets in rural areas because big cities aren't usually accessible,” Kehr said. “People don't want to give up their personal freedoms, social life and sometimes weekends to work out in the middle of nowhere when they could work in the city for the same pay.”